23 September 2015
Altitude acquires West Byfleet Retail and Office Complex
In its first major commercial acquisition, Altitude has purchased Station Approach, a 63,000 sq.ft. mixed use property in the centre of West Byfleet, Surrey. Altitude acquired the property for £10.5m from Cubemaker.
Consisting of a mixture of office and retail accommodation, Station Approach is the main shopping and commercial centre for West Byfleet, located less than 200m from the railway station and opposite an existing Waitrose foodstore.
Nigel Robson, Director of Altitude Real Estate Limited, said:
‘West Byfleet is an attractive town with an affluent catchment area and first class connectivity to central London. We think there is significant untapped potential in the area for high quality retail, restaurants, living and work space. Added to the potential for refurbishment or re-development is the benefit that the existing retail space has always let well and will provide a stable income whilst we engage with the existing occupiers on our plans for the future.’
West Byfleet is situated one mile outside the M25 circle, within five miles of Woking and is approximately 24 minutes to central London by train. Stephen Tillman, Director of Altitude Real Estate Limited, added:
‘There is a remarkable opportunity to use investment in the property to help transform the whole town centre of West Byfleet. Fundamentally, the town has everything one would look for.
‘We want to start from scratch and take a holistic approach to look at how people use the town centre and then work alongside Woking Council, occupiers and local groups to generate proposals for the property, together with public realm improvements that will regenerate the heart of the town centre. Our expertise, track record and experience gained from bringing forward complex mixed use developments such as Brindleyplace and Paradise in Birmingham and Brewery Square in Dorchester will be used to plan something special here.'
Ray Morgan, Chief Executive of Woking Council said:
‘We have serious ambitions for the regeneration of the whole town centre of West Byfleet and have been delighted to hear how the Altitude team wants to take the project forward. This is a once in a generation opportunity and the Council will use its powers, influence and expertise to capitalise on this exciting opportunity for the local community.’
The acquisition of West Byfleet District Centre has been secured by Altitude (Jersey1) LP, which has appointed Altitude Real Estate Limited as its Real Estate Adviser.
Altitude was represented by Jackson Criss and Cubemaker by HSM.